THe Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State council, has called for the prosecution of the policemen, who allegedly manhandled and held hostage two journalists during the protest by students of the University of Port Harcourt, on Monday.
This was contained in a statement signed by the chairman and secretary of the state council, Mr Omoni Ayo-Tamuno and Mr Soibi Max-Alalibo, respectively and made available in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.
The two journalists, Ofonime Okon and Ifanyi Obinna, who are working with Silverbird Television and Rhythm F.M., Port Harcourt, as well as their driver, were allegedly held hostage for more than an hour by some policemen stationed at the Choba junction.
The Rivers NUJ chairman condemned the alleged manhandling, saying their offence was that they took shots of the policemen in their recording during the protest.
“Within this period, they forced the cameraman to delete all his shots on the protest from the memory card.
“The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Ahmad Mohammad, has expressed displeasure over the issue when contacted.
“But we believe that mere personal verbal expression as was genuinely done by the PPRO is hardly enough to forestall a reoccurrence of the act”, the statement added.
“Although, the police have requested the affected journalists to identify the policemen involved in the act, we insist that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Choba Police Station, who posted the policemen to the stated post, be made to produce the officers concerned,” the statement read.
When contacted, the Rivers State police image-maker, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, simply sent a text message to the Nigerian Tribune that “It’s resolved, refer to Ayo-Tamuno [Rivers NUJ chairman]”.
In a related development, the Rivers State council of NUJ alleged that a journalist working with the Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation (RSBC), Mr Martins Giadom, was brutally attacked by unknown persons during the last legislative rerun in the state.
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